Ah, fall. The time for chunky sweaters, boots, and of course, FOOTBALL! Even if you aren’t a lover of the game, football is a great way to get outside and meet people. The Bantams have their first game this Saturday at 1 p.m. vs. Williams. The team is coming off a great opening win on the road at Colby last Saturday. There is now a full on student section at the game just waiting to be filled by eager Trin students. Get there early so you can get a great view of our Campus Cuties Evan Bunker and Chiké Madu scoring some touchdowns. So collegiettes™, I know that we all love to look cute, have a few drinks and support our boys, but do all of us really know what we’re cheering for? …Thought so. Here’s a quick refresher:
Trinity Football
-Coach: Jeff Devanney
-Roster
-Conference: NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference)
-Opponents: Colby, Williams, Hamilton, Tufts, Bowdoin, Middlebury, Amherst, Wesleyan
Basic Football Knowledge
Obviously, to win, you score the most points.
- Field: 100 yards between each end zone, which is another ten yards deep. At the back of the end zone, there are goal posts that are used for kicking field goals and extra points. The lines are numbered by 10 yards, up to the 50 yard line.
- The Game: Each game is made up of four 15 minute quarters. Before the start, there is a coin toss, determining who will kick the ball off and who will receive. Each team is given 3 time outs per half and 2 challenges per game.
- Kickoff: The kicking team lines up on the 30 yard line and kicks the ball as deeply as they can, to pin the other team “deep”, that is as close to their own end zone as possible. If the ball is kicked into the end zone and caught, there is a touchback, and the ball is placed on the 20 yard line. The ball can be caught and returned for yardage, and it will be placed at the spot where the carrier was tackled and play will begin.
- Downs: Everything (!!!) in football is measured in yards, good and bad. The offense has 4 chances to move the ball 10 yards. If they move it 10 yards on the first try, they get a new set of downs, or chances to move the ball. To move it, you can run or throw (we will get into tricky offensive plays at a later date J). If for some reason the Trin offense is stopped, on fourth (the last) down they can either “go for it”, try and get the ball the remaining distance, or punt, and pin the other teams offense as far back as possible.
- The line of Scrimmage: This is where all the important stuff happens. The quarterback will call a play, either in the huddle, or he will audible on the line and tell the offense the play based on the defensive line up (this is usually called a “hurry up” or “no huddle”). The quarterback then has a few options: he can throw it to a teammate, pass it off to a runner, or run with it himself. The pass is complete if another member of the offense catches it, and is incomplete if it hits the ground before it is caught. An incomplete pass results in a loss of downs. If a running play is called, the back will run as far as he can without getting tackled. He is ruled down when his knee hits the ground.
- Stopping the ball: The defense also lines up on the line of scrimmage, and their object is to stop the ball from moving. This happens in one of three ways: they can sack the QB by bringing him down before or at the line of scrimmage while he has the ball, tackle the runner while he has the ball, or cause the pass to be dropped or broken up.
- Turnovers: The defense can take the ball from offense by intercepting the pass, going in and grabbing the ball in the air; causing a fumble, making the offense drop the ball before they are down; and by stopping the ball on 4th down, and taking over at that spot. When a team seems to be leaving the field, it is the defense or offense swapping,
- Scoring: A touchdown is worth 6 points. To score a TD, someone either has to run the ball or catch it in the end zone. After a TD is scored, the coach has a choice of kicking an extra point, worth 1, or “going for 2” which is a two point conversion. If you “go for it” the ball will be placed on the three yard line and much be rushed or thrown in for the points to be earned. It acts much like a touchdown, but you only have one chance. Kicking is what is seen most often because it is much more reliable.
- A field goal, worth 3 points, can be kicked from anywhere on the field at any time the offense has possession. But, if you kick a field goal on 2nd down and miss, you don’t get any more downs. Usually, FGs are kicked from around the 35 yard line (equaling a 45 yard kick) on 4th down when a team has to score. The kick must go through the goal posts to count.
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Here’s the thing, defense can score without intercepting the pass or collecting a fumble. It’s a little thing called a safety. It is the most embarrassing thing that can happen to an offense, and the defense scores 2 points. To score a safety, the defense must tackle the offensive ball carrier in his own end zone. After the safety is scored, the offense (who was just humiliated) has to kick the ball away to the other team. Brutal.
- Penalties: When a team is penalized, they either have a loss of downs or a yardage penalty that pushes them further from the end zone. Off sides is when the defense jumps over the line of scrimmage and causes the center to snap the ball prematurely. Similarly, false start is when the offense jumps before the ball is snapped. Unsportsmanlike conduct is exactly what it sounds like, taunting, bating, fighting, anything like that. It happens, but it sucks because you can get thrown out and there is usually a yardage penalty as well.
- A personal foul is when any player hits another player in a dangerous way: leading with the helmet, below the knees (fondly known as the Brady Rule on QBs) or hitting when the player is already out of bounds. A special kind of personal is the face mask, which is when a defender grabs the facemask of the offender and pulls him down; this can cause serious neck injury or concussions. There are many kinds of personals, but those are the biggest. Holding is another big one, this occurs when a player holds another player back from catching the ball or making a tackle. Both offense and defense can be called for holding. Interference is another penalty that can be called on both sides and it occurs any time a player hinders another player’s ability to do their job.
- Challenges:So, you’re a coach, and you don’t think your player fumbled on the goal line and you think that the ref saw it wrong. In this little sitch, you throw the red challenge flag. A challenge is a decision by the coach to have the refs review the play. If the ruling on the field is overturned in that coaches favor, he “wins” the challenge and is not penalized, however, if the refs look again and he is wrong, he is charged a valuable time out.
SO! There you have it, football for girls who don’t quite get it yet. I have faith that by the end of this season, you will. Hope ALL of you pretty Trin ladies come out and support our Bantams take on Williams on Saturday @ 1 pm on the football field! If you have no interest in the game, just come for the tailgate. A little day drinking never hurt anybody.